


Rabbit

by FaramirsBlessing



Series: Shishou and His Waif [4]
Category: Rurouni Kenshin
Genre: Attempted Kidnapping, Injury, Kenshin calls Hiko names, Kenshin is a kid, Other, Scared Kenshin, protect him
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-02
Updated: 2017-06-17
Packaged: 2018-10-13 20:38:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10521396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FaramirsBlessing/pseuds/FaramirsBlessing
Summary: Kenshin runs into trouble like a rabbit into a trap





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!!! 
> 
> I hope you all enjoy this snippet of little Kenshin angst. It'll be more than one chapter, so please enjoy!

********************************

Kenshin had been playing. 

That was all. 

Playing. 

Shishou had told him not to, but Shishou was annoying. Don’t stray too far from my side, baka deshi. Do as I say, baka deshi. Stay close and listen when I’m talking to you, baka deshi. Be respectful to your elders, baka deshi. 

“You’re the baka deshi,” Kenshin muttered, tossing a few pebbles into the dirt road. “Baka shishou.” The boy’s lips turned up in a smile. “Baka shishou. I like that. Baka shishou.” He leaned forward into the dirt, writing the symbols for baka with his tiny fingers. You’re too small for your age, Kenshin. You need to get bigger. Kenshin wrote the word again, more madly this time, and then proceeded to draw an angry stick figure underneath it. He giggled when he leaned back to look at his work. 

“Baka shishou!” he laughed, and then drew a triangle around the stick figure’s shoulders in what was supposed to be a cape. “Baka shishou!” Kenshin got to his feet and crossed his hands over his chest. “My name is Shishou and I am very big and very annoying,” the boy said, making his voice as deep as possible. “I have an apprentice named Kenshin and I work him like a dog. I don’t like to listen to Kenshin and I make fun of him and call him baka. Well, guess what!” Kenshin stopped and pointed a thumb at his chest. “I’m a baka too! Baka shishou!” 

Kenshin laughed again, happy and amused, and grabbed a few more pebbles. He tossed them around the dirt alley where he was playing, hiding from Shishou and others’ prying eyes, and jumped on each spot where a pebble landed. He’d made this game up and called it “rabbit” since he had to jump with two feet from spot to spot. It was Kenshin’s favorite game, but he never paid attention when he was playing it, which was probably why Shishou had expressly forbidden it; he’d almost fallen into the river once. 

But there was no river here and no Shishou to stop him, so Kenshin could play rabbit all he wanted. 

“Hop! Hop! Hop!” 

“My, my, my, what do we have here?” 

Kenshin froze in his game and turned around slowly. There were two men, one at each end of the alley, and they were BIG. 

Kenshin’s mind started running a mile a minute. 

They aren't bigger than Shishou, he told himself. No one is bigger than Shishou! 

Yeah, but you’re small! another part of his mind screamed at him. Shinta. That was Shinta. Kenshin thought Shinta was dead - he’d been dead for months. He was only Kenshin now! 

While Kenshin’s mind had been racing, somehow the men had drawn closer. They were like wolves, Kenshin thought, with their yellow teeth and dirty faces and huge hands. And if they were wolves, then he was the rabbit. 

And rabbits never outran wolves. 

“You’re a pretty little one aren't ya?” one of the men said, and he looked Kenshin up and down meaningfully. Kenshin froze. 

He looked at him like the slave traders had - right through his clothes and down to his bones, as if he were nothing more than an object to be sold.  
“Very pretty,” the other man said. “Strange that yer dressed like a boy though.” 

“Cause I am a boy!” Kenshin spluttered. Great, the only thing he had managed to say was something stupid. Shishou was right - I am a baka! 

“Oh! Well then, I’m very sorry, boy.” The man enunciated the last word with a smirk and got a little closer. Kenshin instinctively reached for his side, where his bokken usually rested, but froze when he realized it wasn't there. Shishou made him leave it back at the cabin every time they left cause he didn't want Kenshin to break it. So now he was defenseless. 

His knees shook and he backed up to the wall behind him. The men got ever closer and they looked more and more like wolves. 

“Where’s your dad, boy?” one man asked when they were close. Kenshin looked up at them - his mouth was dry and his words were in his throat. He couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't do a thing. Several seconds passed without a response, and the man smiled. His teeth were sharp. 

“He’ll make us some good money,” he said to the other, and his hand clamped around Kenshin’s little arm like a vice. Like an animal trap. 

“Yeah.” The other man looked nervously around they alley, then motioned the other to come. “We’d better get going,” he said. “Don’t want any trouble.” 

“Yeah, kid, no trouble,” the one holding him said, and he dragged Kenshin forward. Kenshin, for a moment, fought him, struggling and biting and digging his heels into the dirt, but fell to his knees when the man hit him hard in the face. He reeled, stars bursting in his vision, and would have fallen if not for the man’s grip on his arm. 

“Hey!” the other said. “Don’t damage the goods!” 

“There’s not gonna be any goods if he’s fighting us like this!” He gripped Kenshin tighter. “Damn brat. Quit acting like that or I’ll beat the shit out of you.” 

Kenshin froze. He didn't want to get hurt. Fighting got you hurt. It always got you hurt. And rabbits never fought wolves without getting hurt. 

Or dying. 

Much to Kenshin’s horror, tears began to prick at his eyes and the boy he thought he'd left for dead - Shinta - was rising from his grave, pounding and screaming against his brain. Shinta’s panic and fear and helplessness was quickly replacing Kenshin’s stubbornness, hope, and strength. 

Shinta - no, Kenshin! Still Kenshin! - bit back a sob. 

He was dying again. He’d died when his parents passed away, again when his brothers died only days later, again when the slave traders had him, and finally when all the nice women who shielded him were murdered in front of his eyes.  
He thought death was over. 

Well, he’d thought wrong.

He sobbed again, a little louder this time, and the man holding him whacked him on the back of his head. 

“Shut up!” he hissed, dragging Kenshin forward. “Stupid brat!” 

“Oi, keep it down!” the other man said at the end of the alley. He waved his partner forward frantically. “We’ve gotta gat out of here before anyone sees!” 

The man holding Kenshin now grabbed him and carried him around the waist. Shin - no, Kenshin! KENSHIN! - put up a bit of a fight before he got the wind knocked out of him. 

When they ran into the dark space behind the shops and homes and raced through the street, Kenshin went slack. 

No use fighting now, he thought to himself. Isn’t that right, Shinta?

He closed his eyes and let himself be jostled as the men raced over the ground, not caring for his safety or condition. At one point someone dropped him and Kenshin rolled through the dirt ground, his face and exposed skin torn open and scraped, but they only picked him up again with a muttered swear. 

Then there was a woman’s voice. 

“Hey!” she hollered. “You two with the kid!” 

Both men didn't slow down and Kenshin didn't open his eyes. His body hurt now and he was scared. 

“Hey!” The woman yelled a little louder this time. “HEY! POLICE!” 

They were running faster and they were swearing and then Kenshin felt himself be dropped to the ground and - Ouch! His wrist! - he rolled to a stop. 

Then there were more hands on him and voices all around and he’d had enough. He opened his eyes with a scream and flailed. 

“NO!” he shrieked. “NO MORE! NO!” 

He kicked and screamed for a while longer before someone embraced him and held him close. Kenshin stiffened. He hadn't felt a warm chest like this for so long. . . Not since all the women had been slaughtered. He took a deep breath and slowly opened his eyes. 

Holding him tightly against her breast was a portly middle-aged woman with wide brown eyes and shiny black hair. It was tied in a messy bun and she was dressed in a shop’s bright uniform which made her smell like sweets.  
His mom used to smell like sweets. . . .

Kenshin cried. 

“There, there, dear,” the woman soothed. “It’s all right. You’re safe now. The police are after those terrible men.” She smoothed his frizzy red hair with her hand. “Everything’s all right now.” 

They stayed like that a while longer - Kenshin clinging to the woman and sobbing while she pet his hair and told him everything was okay. After a while, Kenshin exhausted his store of tears and he pulled back from the woman, covered in snot. He wiped it on the back of his shirtsleeve and the woman laughed. 

“Oh, my dear, you’re such a mess!” she said with a warm smile. Kenshin relaxed. “So much snot and - oh dear! You’re all scraped up! C’mon, back to the shop with you. Can you stand?” 

Kenshin nodded shakily, and, with the woman’s help, staggered to his feet. Now that the adrenaline rush had faded and his body had exhausted itself with tears, Kenshin could feel the pain. Sharp, awful scratches caked the left side of his body. He winced as he took a step. 

“Would you like me to help you?” the woman asked, but Kenshin shook his head. They inched forward step by step, and Kenshin refused her offers of help. By the time they were just outside the sweet shop, Kenshin was panting and near tears. 

“Oh, dear!” the woman said, and she crouched in front of Kenshin and took his shoulders gently in her large hands. “Oh, you sweet little boy! We’ll get you all cleaned up. Does that sound okay?” Kenshin nodded mutely and she smiled a little softer. “Do you know where your parents are?” 

“Dead,” Kenshin breathed, and his violet eyes grew haunted and sad, misted more than ever with tears. 

“That’s all right, dear, I’m so sorry,” the woman said, and she stroked Kenshin’s uninjured cheek with a soft hand. “How about a name, hm? What’s your name?” 

Name? 

Kenshin cocked his head. 

A name. That’s right. He had one of those. He had two actually. One was Shinta - his mom and dad and named him that - and the other was something special. It was a name someone very big and very generous and very strong had given him. 

It was a new name because Shinta was dead. 

It was a nice name. 

It meant “Heart of Sword” 

“Oh!” Kenshin said, and the panicked part of him that was Shinta disappeared. “My name is-” 

“Kenshin!!” 

Kenshin whirled, and, striding quickly towards them was a large man with black hair, stern features, and a bone-white cape.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Easter! Here's some more baby Kenshin and his teacher. :) There will be more soon!

********************** 

Hiko sat in the sweets shop, sitting on a bench as he perched Kenshin on a table in front of him. 

“You look awful, Kenshin,” he said, taking in Kenshin’s appearance. His clothes were torn and ripped - and they were his new training clothes too! - and one of his sandals was missing. His leg was wrecked, along with his arm, covered in blood and caked with dirt and pebbles. And Hiko did NOT like the way Kenshin favored his left arm. Little Kenshin’s face was the worst however, caked in dried and fresh blood, dirt and thick rocks imbedded in his skin. He kept reaching up to itch at it, his little face scrunched up, and, as he tried to do so again, Hiko slapped his hand away. 

“Stop that,” he ordered. 

“But Shishou it hurts!” 

“Of course it hurts, baka deshi. You should see yourself.” He sniffed. “You’re a mess.” 

“It’s not my fault!” Kenshin said. “They dropped me!” 

“They?” Hiko asked, arching an eyebrow. “Who’s they?” 

Kenshin paled and shut his mouth. Hiko frowned at him. As he opened his mouth to prompt answers from his student, a joyful voice interrupted. 

“Hello again!” she said, her voice bright. 

Hiko turned and behind him stood the woman whom he had discovered Kenshin with. He had been furious at first, to say the least, for he thought Kenshin had wandered quite some ways just to find a sweets shop, but when he got within eyeshot, he was mildly alarmed to see that Kenshin was torn up and covered in blood. The woman was crouching in front of him, asking him questions, but before she could finish, Kenshin saw Hiko and ran to him. The waif of a thing had clutched hard at Hiko’s leg and cried and Hiko didn't really have the heart to pry him off just yet. Upon talking to the woman, he’d found that Kenshin had been taken by some unsavory men and she had called the police to rescue him. Kenshin was distraught and bleeding, and Hiko knew he had to care for his wounds before he could get anymore information. 

And he wanted to hear it from his little apprentice, not the woman. 

“Here’s all our supplies!” she said cheerfully as she laid a basin of water and a small wooden box on the table next to Kenshin. Kenshin looked at it distastefully and scooted away with a little noise of fear when Hiko opened the box. His eyes widened. 

“You have a very well-stocked medicine cabinet, woman,” he said with a nod. “I approve.” 

The woman made a face and crossed her arms over her chest. 

“My name is Ichigo,” she said. “You can call me that.” 

“I’m sorry,” Hiko said with a bow. “Thank you for helping my baka deshi, Ichigo-san.” 

The woman’s eyes widened and she looked over at Kenshin, who had pursed his lips. 

“Baka deshi?” she asked. “Why do you call him that?” 

“Kenshin is my apprentice,” Hiko explained, dipping a cloth in the basin of water. “I’m teaching him.” 

“Teaching him what?” 

“Swordsmanship!” Kenshin chirped, but he winced when Hiko ran the washcloth over his raw skin. “Ow!” he cried. He tried to pull away from Hiko but Hiko held him tight. “Shishou it hurts!” 

“Quiet, Kenshin. Of course it hurts. You’ve gotten yourself into trouble again.” 

Ichigo sat herself on a bench nearby with a frown. 

“Again? Do you get hurt often, Kenshin?” 

Kenshin shook his head. 

Hiko glared at him. 

Then Kenshin bit his lip and nodded. 

“I fall down a lot,” he said, wincing again as Hiko washed his leg, "and I trip and fall in the mud and fall outta trees and hit myself with my bokken." 

Ichigo's eyes widened at the laundry list Kenshin had just spouted at her. 

"How do you manage to get hurt so often?" she asked. 

Kenshin made a face. 

"Shishou says it’s because I’m clumsy and stupid.” 

“You call your son stupid?” Ichigo asked and Hiko bristled at the outrage in her voice. He didn't turn to her as he answered. 

“Kenshin is not my son,” he said. “He is my apprentice. And yes, I call him stupid, because he is.” 

“Am not!” Kenshin protested. 

“Are too,” Hiko countered. 

“Am not!” 

“Are too.” 

“Am not!” 

Hiko deposited the used towel and grabbed another. 

“Time to wash your face, baka deshi. Stay still.” 

Ichigo frowned. She was fully prepared to intervene if this large man, who was gruff and seemed to have no manners, hurt the child she’d found, but, much to her amazement, he never did. 

The huge man in the white cape was incredibly gentle with the boy. The first touch of the cloth on his face made him yelp, but the swordsman held him still, cupping the other side of his head. 

Ichigo watched in quiet awe the relationship between this huge, gruff man and this little, gentle boy.

****************************


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiko is really bad at comforting kids

***************************************************

Kenshin was crying and Hiko didn't like it.

He usually didn't let Kenshin cry, reminding his small apprentice that crying was not befitting of a swordsman, but now all he saw was a frightened little boy covered in blood. It reminded him of the time he’d first found Kenshin and cleaned the blood blisters from his little hands. That was the first time Kenshin had cried in Hiko’s presence, and Hiko had hoped it would be the last, but now the boy was frightened and hurt again and Hiko couldn't bear to force Kenshin to stay quiet. So Hiko let Kenshin cry.

The boy bit back a sob as Hiko washed away some deeply embedded dirt and pebbles. Much to his dismay, Hiko’s heart did a little flip when Kenshin cried out.

“Easy, Kenshin. It’s all right,” Hiko soothed, his voice becoming disgustingly gentle. He carded a few of his large fingers through Kenshin’s frizzy red hair in what was meant to be a comforting gesture, and Kenshin leaned into his hand like it was a lifeline.

“I-I’m sorry!” he spluttered suddenly. “I’m s-sorry, Shishou!”

Hiko blinked.

“Why are you sorry, kid?”

“I got sc-scared and they took me!” Kenshin sobbed and he threw himself against Hiko, wrapping his arms around his teacher’s neck. “They took m-me!”

Hiko awkwardly patted Kenshin’s head.

“Who took you, Kenshin?”

“B-Bad people! They said I was pretty and that that I was g-goods and that they were going to m-m-make good money off me!” Kenshin sobbed and Hiko felt his apprentice’s breath get fast and uneven. “I-I was too s-scared to fight, Shishou! I’m s-sorry!!”

“Shh,” Hiko comforted. “You’re all right, Kenshin. It’s all right.”

But Kenshin did not relax. Instead, his breaths only came faster and faster, and he began to shake. Hiko swore and pulled Kenshin away from his chest, ignoring the boy’s whimper, and then held him firmly by the shoulders.

“Kenshin,” he said. “Kenshin, look at me.”

Kenshin, quivering, set his violet eyes on his teacher’s face. Hiko nodded.

“Good boy,” he said. He squeezed the boy’s shoulders. “Now, Kenshin, I need you to understand something. You didn't do anything wrong. Understand? Nothing.”

Kenshin’s lip wobbled and he tilted his head at Hiko, confused.

“B-But-”

“Don’t argue with your teacher, baka deshi,” Hiko interrupted. When Kenshin fell silent, he nodded, pleased. “Look, kid, you can’t help that some _unsavory_ -” the word rolled off his lips like poison - “men tried to take you. You’re a vulnerable kid after all.”

“B-But I couldn’t fight them, Shishou!”

“Well, of course you couldn’t. You don't have your bokken.”

“I should've tried to punch them!” Kenshin said. “I should have-”

“You would have just broken your knuckles if you tried that nonsense,” Hiko said, grabbing some bandages from the medical kit and tying them around Kenshin’s leg. The boy winced and clutched at Hiko’s ponytail, pulling tight. Hiko grimaced but ignored it, electing that Kenshin might shut up if he was holding onto something.

“Break my knuckles?” Kenshin asked, and Hiko finished his leg and went to bandage his arm. Kenshin was confused. “What are knuckles?”

Hiko rolled his eyes.

“These are your knuckles, baka,” he said, taking Kenshin’s uninjured hand and running his fingers over the knobs there. He frowned internally - Kenshin’s hands were still so small and skinny.

Waif.

“Oh.” Kenshin blinked owlishly at his hand as Hiko turned away. As Hiko carefully bandaged Kenshin’s injured arm, he heard the boy rap lightly on the wood of the table, bright eyes focused on his knuckles.

Hiko continued to bandage Kenshin’s arm, ignoring the boy’s winces and managing to keep him still, as Kenshin punched lightly at the table.

When Hiko pulled back and reached for more bandages to tend to Kenshin’s face, the boy suddenly wiggled out of his grip.

“Kenshin!” Hiko snapped, grabbing the boy before he jumped off the table. “Kenshin, where do you think you’re going?”

“It’s gonna hurt!” Kenshin cried. Tears were building again in his violet eyes and Hiko bit his lip. Kami. . .

“It’ll only hurt for a little bit,” he said, trying to sound comforting. He tried to pull Kenshin towards him, gripping tightly to his gi, but the boy struggled against him, crying and twisting. “Come on, Kenshin, stop this. We’ve done this before. What’s wrong with you, kid?”

“L-Let go!” Kenshin said, and his voice rose nearly to a shriek. Hiko almost winced, but he’d heard this little boy of his panicked and bratty before, so the noise didn't come as a surprise. However, the woman behind him flinched and made to step forward.

And he understood why Kenshin was suddenly fighting him.

Hiko’s arm shot out to stop her.

“Go,” he ordered without turning around or releasing Kenshin.

“What?” the woman demanded.

“I asked you to go,” Hiko said. As an afterthought, he added, “Ichigo-san.”

“You didn't ask me to do anything,” the shopkeeper snorted. “You demanded it.”

“Kenshin would like you to leave.”

Hiko could almost feel the shopkeeper’s eyes boring into his back.

“Oh, does he? Or do you want me to leave so you can be alone to call the boy stupid and other names?”

Hiko didn't miss the venom in her voice or the insinuation in her words. He whipped around to face her, ignoring how threatening his large presence must be.

“You dare to hint that I abuse Kenshin in my free time?” he hissed. “You would be wise to take that back, woman.”

Ichigo quailed a bit, but, instead of speaking to Hiko, turned to Kenshin.

“Kenshin-chan,” she said, “do you want me to go?”

Kenshin nodded immediately and Hiko smirked at the woman. She glared at him before stomping out of the room. The moment she was gone, Kenshin went still. Hiko released him. 

****************************

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy summer! I hope you enjoyed! 
> 
> Also, there'll be more!


End file.
